STARKVILLE — Starkville High School football coach Ricky Woods has resigned and will take over as the Eupora High coach next season, according to multiple sources.
Woods didn’t return multiple phone calls seeking comment. Woods coached at Eupora High for five seasons from 1990-94.
One source said Woods, an Ackerman native, wanted to be closer to family.
Eupora High Athletic Director Stephen Edwards, who also serves as the school’s football coach, didn’t return multiple phone calls seeking comment.
Starkville High Athletic Director Milton Smith said he hadn’t talked to Woods as of Wednesday afternoon when the news broke.
“I have no idea. I haven’t talked to him. For him to be leaving, I hope (I get to talk to him),” Smith said.
Woods, who was inducted into the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame before this season, spent the last two seasons at Starkville High. He won the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A State championship last season with a record of 14-1, the lone loss coming at Noxubee County in double overtime in the season opener. The Yellow Jackets finished 7-4 and 4-3 in Region 2. They are the first reigning Class 6A State champion to miss the playoffs.
Woods coached for five seasons at South Panola High and helped the Tigers win four consecutive MHSAA Class 5A titles from 2003-06. He finished 74-1 and won 60-consecutive games at one point at the school. He also won championships at Ackerman in 1997 and 2001.
Before coming to Starkville, Woods served two seasons at Trenton Peabody (Tenn.). After South Panola, Woods spent one year at Bainbridge (Ga.) before taking over at Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia, where he served five seasons (2008-12).
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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